Ford F-250/F-350 2001 to 2006 used-car review

Are these big American workhorses a good second-hand buy?

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Full-sized American-style pick-ups have always had a following in Australia.

And now that RAM and Chevrolet trucks are being converted here for local sale, interest in this type of vehicle has received a shot in the arm. It hasn’t always been a strong one and at other times it’s seemed to exist just below the surface, but it’s been there all the same.

Certainly, the following here has been nothing like the legion of fans of the things in their home market where, for many years, the big pick-up from either Ford or Chevrolet has been that nation’s biggest selling vehicle of any type.

Then you drive one and you start to wonder aloud how on earth that can be. Frankly, the full-sized pick-ups favoured by Billy-Joe and his kin have been pretty crude devices. Clumsy suspension, wheezy (for their capacity) engines, terrible interiors and shoddy build quality all made the phenomenon even more of a mystery.

In the 1970s and ‘80s, Ford Australia was importing the F-100 which found favour among ambulance and police-force fleets thanks to its solid structure and the fact that it represented a blank canvas for turning into something quite specialised.

That all hinged, of course, on the big F-Series being available in right-hand-drive form and, depending on Ford’s mood at the time, it wasn’t always. But in 2001, when production of the F-Series trucks moved to Brazil, factory right-hand-drive became a reality once more, and Ford Australia was quick to grab a batch of the big, burly utes for sale here.

Choice was not an issue when the F-truck hit local showrooms, with Ford offering both the F-250 and the bigger F-350 in single-cab, Super Cab and Crew Cab varieties along with a choice of engines and a variety of trim levels.

Those engines included a 132kW 4.2-litre six-cylinder turbo-diesel, a 194kW 5.4-litre petrol V8 and a mighty 175kW 7.3-litre turbo-diesel V8 with enough torque to move continents. There was also the choice of a manual or automatic gearbox and even two or four-wheel-drive.

But let’s get one thing straight: These were still pretty raw machines and while they found favour with those with a specific use in mind, they were hardly the sort of thing you’d want to use to commute or do the school run in every day.

They were still pretty ordinary inside with those typically crappy US plastics, they rode pretty hard, they were constructed in an apparent hurry and they would guzzle fuel like there was no tomorrow.

A few even found their way on to the driveways of keen off-roaders who liked the F-truck’s rugged, simple construction, it’s beefiness and, perhaps most especially, the ability of that huge diesel V8 to tow a big off-road caravan.

Tradies also found a use for the things as a way of hauling around heavy excavators and bobcats on tandem trailers and not have to worry about exceeding the towing limit specified by Ford; up to seven tonnes in some cases.

Which is more or less the first thing to check for when shopping second-hand; that the vehicle you’re looking at hasn’t been used as a prime-mover every day of its life.

A service history is a great thing to find, but so is some pertinent information on the previous owner(s).

We’d also take a close look at the accessories fitted to any four-wheel-drive version as plenty of these became outback rigs towing three-tonne (or more) caravans and that’s always going to be hard on a vehicle.

Don’t forget, too, that even a coddled four-wheel-drive F-Series will - like any serious, heavy-duty four-wheel-drive – not be a low-maintenance proposition.

The 7.3-litre turbo-diesel V8 was, of course, the headline act and was a popular choice. But just because it’s a diesel, don’t expect a Christmas card from Greenpeace because these were still awfully thirsty vehicles.

It’s all about mass and aerodynamics at some point, and the F-Series had lots of the former and not much of the latter. Even driven sanely with no load on board, you can expect to use somewhere between 15 and 20 litres of diesel per 100km. Hitch up a big caravan and 30 litres for that same 100km is not unknown.

The 4.2-litre diesel was a bit better in this regard but didn’t seem to appeal to the type of people at which Ford was aiming the F-250/350.

Which left anybody else with the petrol 5.4-litre V8 which was similar to the unit fitted to locally-made Fairmonts and Fairlanes around the same time. Frankly, with all that weight to haul around, the petrol V8 could feel like it was struggling at times and also used plenty of fuel in the process.

Check that the V8 has had its spark-plugs removed and checked regularly as these have been known to corrode, effectively welding themselves to the cylinder head and making plug replacement a nightmare.

Make sure any manual-transmission example doesn’t display a fit of the shudders as you take off from a standing start. If it does, you could be looking at a worn clutch and that could also include damage to the flywheel if it’s been driven like that for any length of time.

But the automatic F-truck can exhibit similar behaviour and one that does needs to be treated with extreme caution as these transmissions are hardly cheap to replace. The first thing to check is the level and condition of the trans fluid and if it’s dark and smells like burned toast, we’d be looking elsewhere as damage to the gearbox has almost certainly started to occur.

It also pays to remember that these vehicles were not built to the same quality standards as Ford passenger cars made in Australia. You can expect lots of squeaks and rattles from the interior and make sure you take a big sniff of the cabin’s air when you first open the door.

You’re sniffing for the musty smell of wet carpets and the cause of this could be anything from poor windscreen sealing to missing grommets in the firewall that allow rain-water inside.

Looking for a used F-Series truck? Check out what's available right now on Drive.com.au here.

Competitors

Toyota LandCruiser – The big Cruiser with the reputation for handling both serious off-road work and towing duties, the Toyota has a huge following. The good news is that there are plenty out there that have never seen active duty Buy that one. 4 stars

Nissan Patrol GU – Within the GU Patrol line-up was a version with a 4.8-litre petrol six-cylinder which would tow pretty much anything this side of the Queen Mary. Great off-road, too, but fuel costs may send you to the poor-house.